City of Basketball Love

Jerome Taylor (@ThatGuy_Rome)
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COATESVILLE — Roman’s rotation isn’t deep, but the six-man lineup is far from shallow. 

Three Cahillites (22-4) will likely be at the top of any opposing coaches’ scouting report: Cincinnati commit Daniel Skillings Jr., Hofstra commit Khalil Farmer and junior point guard Xzayvier Brown, who is also garnering significant Division I interest. 

But in a PIAA 6A semifinal game against Lower Merion, Skillings Jr. was held in check, so the other half of Chris McNesby’s rotation made a major impact. 

Among those impact players was Quadir Brown, whose 10 points kept Roman afloat in the first half before they took control down the stretch in the 53-41 win over Lower Merion. 

Roman started the game slow, going 1-of-9 from the field in the first quarter, and they found themselves down 13-4 to the Aces (27-3). 

And if it weren’t for Quadir Brown’s shotmaking in the first two quarters (3-4 FG, 2-3 3PT), the Cahillites would've been down more than three at halftime. 

“Coach Chris was telling me that if it was open, shoot,” Brown, who scored eight of his 10 points in the first half, said. “He believes in me and that’s the most important thing for me this year was my confidence. He’s given me everything that I’ve needed this year, so I really appreciate him and everything he’s been doing for me.”

“I said, ‘Quadir, they’re gonna put Lilley in the lane, you’re gonna be open,’” McNesby said. “'I know Dan and Khalil get priority, but if you’re open and your feet are set, man — shoot the ball.'”

Brown’s scoring was far from the only thing keeping Roman in the game. In the second quarter, Roman started utilizing a full-court press which played a part in the Aces turning the ball over nine times in the first half.

Even with the offensive woes, Gregg Downer’s squad was still on top 23-20 at halftime because of a strong performance from Penn State commit Demetrius Lilley. The senior big man finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds, but he did most of his scoring in the first half (nine first-half points). 

Whoever drew the defensive assignment vs. Lilley was going to be one of two matchups to watch in the game between two of the most historic programs in the area. To start, McNesby had Skillings on Lilley, but eventually, McNesby went to the sixth man in his six-man rotation, freshman big man Shareef Jackson for the Lilley assignment.

Jackson, who has grown to 6-foot-7 over the course of the season, provided a bigger body against the 6-8 senior and, as a result, made his looks at the rim more challenging.

“Dan’s quick. We tried to use his athleticism, trying to get him to move his feet, make Lilley work,” McNesby said. “We brought ‘Reef off the bench, figuring we’ll let him get a start [against Lilley.] It was good.”

Between the multiple looks on the Aces’ most significant mismatch and the press on their guards, Roman’s defense was the biggest catalyst in the semifinal win.

“Just give them different looks, Sam Brown and Lilley are tremendous, trying to keep them off balance and I think they kind of wore out a little bit,” McNesby said. 

Lilley rolled his ankle after drilling a 3-pointer with 4:35 remaining in the third quarter; the future Nittany Lion stayed in the game, but didn’t score again.

It was the beginning of a cold spell for the Aces, who took a 28-27 lead after Lilley’s three. They then extended the lead to 33-29 with 3:07 in the third frame, but that’s when their offense halted. 

Roman went on a 7-2 run to end the quarter, to take a 36-35 lead. And in the fourth quarter, the Aces looked worn down by the Roman press, as they didn’t score another basket until under two minutes in the fourth quarter. But by that time, Roman’s run had ballooned to a ten-minute 19-2 run, which extended their lead to 48-35.

“We haven’t gone six minutes all season without scoring, and after Demetrius hit that three and kinda sprained his ankle a little bit, it seemed like we were stuck on 35 forever,” Downer said.

The second matchup observers were paying attention to was how Lower Merion would guard the Skillings. The answer was senior Duke lacrosse commit Henry Bard, who held Skillings to six total points.

So during Roman’s game-clinching run, McNesby relied on Xzayvier Brown (nine second-half points), Farmer (seven second-half points), and Toby Ojukwu (eight second-half points) to close out the game. 

“These guys play so hard for each other, six is all we got, all we need,” McNesby said. “Those guys had their day today, and anytime you go through a long season like this, you need everyone to step up at different points, and they did that. As a coach, it’s a great feeling, it’s amazing.”

Now Roman is heading to Hershey with an opportunity to win a state championship and avenge a January 12 loss against Archbishop Wood, who beat Fox Chapel in their semifinal matchup.

“We’ll go over that game plan and watch that game a couple of times,” Quadir Brown said. “We’ll make the right adjustments this time, and we’ll do whatever we can to try to get the state championship.”

“It’s great [two PCL teams are competing for the state championship]. It’s gonna be fun, the kids are gonna be so into it. It’s gonna be awesome,” McNesby added.

By Quarter
Roman Catholic:    4  | 16 | 16 | 17 ||  53
Lower Merion:       13 | 10 | 12 |  6  ||  41

Scoring
Roman Catholic: X. Brown 15, Farmer 11, Q. Brown 10, Ojukwu 8, Skillings Jr. 6, Jackson 3 

Lower Merion: Lilley 14, Wright 14, Brown 7, Shippen 6